“Suzanne Farver has blessed us with a terrific review of the current landscape of some of the best tools and strategies for infusing sustainability into the lifeblood of any organization. It’s the book I wished I had when I was struggling to deal with sustainability at the Fortune 500 company I worked for years ago.”

—William R. Blackburn, JD, Author of The Sustainability Handbook

“This book is a cornerstone resource for my Harvard class on Corporate Sustainability Strategy. It is a well-structured presentation of the content and provides my students with a clear understanding of the processes and tools available to develop a successful sustainability program. More importantly, it provides a great basis for rich discussions about the case studies we use in class and serves a reference for them after they have finished their coursework.”

Mainstreaming Corporate Sustainability is a practical guide to the leading tools and resources used to successfully integrate sustainability into a company’s corporate culture. Through the examples of companies from around the world, it provides an overview of the basics of any successful sustainability program, including the various international standards and performance frameworks that can be adapted to companies striving to improve their sustainability performance. These standards are summarized and explained in clear language and a conversational tone, allowing the reader to absorb what can be a complicated maze of resources.

Used as the centerpiece for a popular corporate sustainability class taught on campus and online at Harvard University Extension School, as well as other universities around the U.S., this guide provides students and professionals alike with an overview of the most valuable management tools and resources available today. This second edition has been expanded with updated resources and a greater emphasis on climate change and reducing a firm’s carbon footprint.

Mainstreaming Corporate Sustainability provides an understanding of the pitfalls and challenges of this ever-changing field. It helps the reader become adept at asking the right questions and speaking the language of sustainability professionals, providing guidance to become a leader in this important business arena. Recommendations for additional reading are provided throughout, allowing the reader to delve more deeply into the subject at any stage.

Key Features

Provides step-by-step processes for building a corporate sustainability program from the ground up

Emphasizes environmental and social responsibility while providing tools to promote successful financial measurement and economic success

Includes key ingredients to enrich any existing sustainability program and prioritizes the various choices for action

Helps to identify risk and opportunity to create economic success when environmental and social challenges arise

Includes advice on stakeholder engagement and meeting communication challenges in today’s shifting business world

Describes how to develop strategies and systems management to promote successful transitions from inefficient operations

Gives information about reporting and how to develop a clear and successful sustainability report

Offers a great balance between application of the tools/metrics/frameworks and the understanding of the philosophical underpinnings

Integrates the various elements of sustainability into a cohesive and systematic methodology that broadens how you will view corporate responsibility and the options available for addressing the pressing sustainability challenges facing our world

Suzanne Farver, ALM, JD, has spent her career leading organizations toward more responsible management and has a strong track record of building consensus and emulating vision. She holds a BA in economics from Grinnell College (Phi Beta Kappa), a JD from University of Denver, and an ALM in environmental management from Harvard University Extension School (class marshal).

Her educational work includes teaching Corporate Sustainability Strategy at Harvard University Extension School, a course she helped develop in the fall of 2010. Suzanne’s nonprofit management includes serving as finance chair for the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) board during its merger with the Carbon War Room. During that time, RMI tripled in size and impact and continues now as a leading organization helping the business community drive energy savings and reduce carbon emissions worldwide.

Since 2006 Suzanne has served on the board of Presidio Graduate School (PGS), including board chair from 2015 to 2018, during a time of enormous transition for the school. Under Suzanne’s leadership, the school entered a new partnership with Amity University, a leading nonprofit international university with campuses worldwide. This new venture greatly increases the impact of the PGS mission, which includes promoting business practices that recognize the importance of social justice. PGS awards MBAs and MPAs who are focused on sustainable management principles and was mentioned in The New York Times as the best MBA program to attend if you want to change the world.